"Wheeze, wheeze, wheeze—"
Rain beat against Pei Wen's face, making it impossible for him to open his eyes. He could only rely on his spiritual power to determine his direction.
"The people from the Spirit Pagoda should have noticed me by now, right?"
He speculated to himself. He hadn't concealed his movements just now, and this place wasn't very far from the Spirit Pagoda.
"Hm? They're catching up?"
His second Soul Ring flickered. This was a detection-type Soul Skill that allowed him to attach his spiritual power to places he had passed, enabling him to monitor fluctuations in Soul Power there for a certain amount of time.
Now, in his perception, people had suddenly entered the villa, and someone was also pursuing him along the route he had flown.
"Is it another Soul Master with a flying Martial Soul?"
Pei Wen ended his second Soul Skill and poured all his Soul Power into accelerating.
Though he knew someone was after him, he didn't panic. Instead, a smile appeared on his face.
"Come on, all of you, chase me. Just make sure you don't let me get away..."
In the rain, a pair of fiery-red wings evaporated all the moisture that drew near. Leng Yaozhu maintained an unhurried pace as she flew after her target.
Reports from Spirit Pagoda technicians came intermittently through the small Soul Guidance Communicator at her ear.
"Good. Keep observing the other target and report back to me at any time."
From the shadow of a tall building, a black-robed figure poked out his head and watched Leng Yaozhu fly away.
"Who is that? Her Soul Power fluctuations are so powerful. She feels almost on par with the elders."
"Lord Mo Su, what do we do now?"
Mo Su was the middle-aged Evil Soul Master who had led the group earlier.
He smiled wickedly. "Who would've thought that the idle move I tossed out would lure in such a big fish? Now that she's left, the Spirit Pagoda is even less capable of resisting us! Hahaha, heaven really is helping me. That woman's a fool to fall for such an obvious trick."
"Indeed, Lord Mo Su is a master strategist!"
The Evil Soul Masters around him called out excitedly.
"All right, stay hidden. We'll act according to the plan in a little while." Mo Su looked toward the distant tower, barely visible through the torrential rain. "Once the job's done, each of you can keep one Soul Spirit."
"Long live Lord Mo Su!"
His words made the Evil Soul Masters even more excited.
For Evil Soul Masters like them, Soul Spirits were hard to come by. Getting one outright would save them an incredible amount of trouble.
Elsewhere, Shi Qian, the Holy Spirit Cult elder leading this operation, had also received a message from Mo Su. Once he confirmed that the unknown powerhouse had been lured away, he breathed a sigh of relief.
"Good. But to be safe, we should finish this quickly."
Shi Qian looked toward the distant Blacksmith Association. That was right: attacking the Eastsea City Spirit Pagoda was just a diversion. His real target was the Blacksmith Association.
Through special channels, he had already learned that Mu Chen and the other high-ranking blacksmiths had gone to a meeting. Only a few ordinary blacksmiths remained here. The Association was at its most vulnerable.
Compared to Soul Spirits, the special metals used to make Battle Armor were far more valuable. The Blacksmith Association was responsible for storing such metals, so they might as well come and "procure" a batch.
A banner wreathed in black smoke appeared in his hand, from within it came constant cries of anguish.
It was his Martial Soul—the infamous Ten Thousand Soul Banner!
Nine Soul Rings—yellow, yellow, purple, purple, black, black, black, black, black—appeared around him.
The next moment, his Sixth Soul Ring lit up. Ghostly energy surged from the Ten Thousand Soul Banner in Shi Qian's hand. Several deathly pale spirits merged with the black smoke, forming a pale pillar of light that shot straight toward the distant Blacksmith Association.
"Boom—"
A huge hole was blasted through the Blacksmith Association's outer wall, exposing the space inside.
"Move!"
At Shi Qian's command, he sprang into the air first and flew straight toward the hole.
The other Evil Soul Masters swarmed toward the Blacksmith Association like ravenous jackals. Those who could fly followed close behind Shi Qian, while those who couldn't charged into the lobby on the first floor.
In an instant, all kinds of Soul Skills flashed through the building. Explosions rang out one after another, mixed with screams and cries for help.
Wherever Shi Qian went, souls were sucked into the Ten Thousand Soul Banner by the black smoke around him. Whether they were staff or blacksmiths, they fell like stalks of wheat.
"Heh heh heh, that's the feeling—the exquisite taste!" Shi Qian's face turned unnaturally pale, but the aura around him continued to grow stronger. He stuck out his scarlet tongue and licked his lips. "Ah, blacksmith souls really are delicious. They have a hint of the flames of the forge, and they're far better than those ordinary Soul Masters!"
Downstairs, Yun Xiaoling had sensed something was wrong as soon as the explosion went off. Without hesitation, she pressed the emergency button at the front desk.
The next moment, alarms sounded in every Forging Room. The Eastsea City Administration Office and the Mecha Master Brigade would receive the alert at the same time.
Yun Xiaoling breathed a sigh of relief and hurried toward the back of the Blacksmith Association. That was where the emergency shelters had been built, one on every floor. This one was meant for people in the lobby.
As for the blacksmiths still working, they could only stay in their Forging Rooms. There wasn't enough time to reach the shelters.
She had just reached a corner when she glanced back and saw the first group of Evil Soul Masters flooding in through the entrance.
"Evil Soul Masters!?"
Alarm bells rang in Yun Xiaoling's mind. She hurried into the shelter beside her and pressed a button.
The next moment, several soul-guided mechanisms whirred into motion. The shelter's door merged seamlessly with the wall, making it impossible to tell there was a door there at all.
Inside the room, the soul-guided shield generator started up. Yun Xiaoling slid down the wall and sat on the floor. Fortunately, she was the only one on duty in the lobby today.
She let out a long breath, but she still couldn't understand. "Why would Evil Soul Masters suddenly appear in Eastsea City?"
But there was nothing she could do now. Most of the Association's experts had gone to a meeting, so she could only hope that the Administration Office and the Mecha Master Brigade would send help in time.
In the Forging Room, Tang Wulin had been about to go out and see what had happened when the alarm sounded, immediately quashing the idea. He hurriedly locked the Forging Room door.
"What on earth happened?" Tang Wulin furrowed his brow. Through a wall, he could just make out the screams and explosions coming from outside.
"Boom—crash—"
Just as his mind raced, a faint explosion sounded beside him.
The Forging Room wall had been blasted down by something!
"Heh heh, this door's damn sturdy! Good thing the wall isn't so tough." A towering Evil Soul Master with a wolf's head and a human body grinned at Tang Wulin, a corpse that had already gone cold dangling from his hand.
The six Soul Rings behind him—yellow, yellow, yellow, yellow, purple, purple—marked him as a Soul Emperor.
But Tang Wulin's gaze was fixed on the corpse in his hand. Its throat had been bitten through, and blood still seeped from the wound, dripping onto the floor.
"D-dead... Someone's dead?"